After confirming once again that the person bound by chains was unfamiliar, Cheng Ye waved to Long.

"Have everyone disperse for now, don't keep staring like this."

The population density in the mall was really high, wherever he looked, there were crowds of bobbing heads, comparable to the scene of old folks rushing for eggs at a modern mall opening. Even Cheng Ye felt a bit unnerved.

Long immediately raised his hand to signal, and the previously tense atmosphere relaxed instantly.

However, everyone still tried to make as little noise as possible while working. A few kids were pulled aside by their parents but couldn't resist poking their heads curiously to watch, their gazes fixated on Cheng Ye without blinking.

Despite their family's repeated reminders over the past few days to show utmost respect when meeting Inspector Cheng, they couldn't fathom why this young man, who seemed no different from the boy next door, commanded such reverence from people much older than him.

Was it just because of his inspector identity?

Cheng Ye ignored the children's scrutiny and, with Long, moved to a corner outside of Jiang Chuan's line of sight, frowning slightly as he asked, "What's the situation with that person?"

"Here's the thing..."

Long spoke quickly, "This guy called 'Jiang Chuan' is really determined, came straight to our B-7, and kept trying to bribe information about you out of everyone..."

He recounted how Boss Huang encountered Jiang Chuan at the intersection, the vendors were questioned, and how Chen Dong and others noticed something amiss.

Long didn't forget to add, "He's a tough one, Inspector. You must practice martial arts too, right?"

"Yes," Cheng Ye nodded, "What realm is he in?"

"At least Unity of Heaven and Man."

"Hmm?"

Cheng Ye was a bit startled, "How can you be sure?"

"Um... I'm in the Embracing Embryo Realm, and I couldn't even touch him." Long scratched his head awkwardly, "It's like, you meet him and there's no chance to resist, you're just taken down immediately."

"You're in Embracing Embryo?"

Compared to the news that Jiang Chuan was in Unity of Heaven and Man, Cheng Ye was more surprised by Long's realm.

He had always thought Long was just a skilled ordinary person, who knew he also practiced martial arts?

"Back when the corps were trying to help everyone survive, they'd teach us combat and inner breath techniques every weekend." Long explained, with a hint of embarrassment in his tone, probably due to being easily subdued by Jiang Chuan, not exactly something to be proud of.

"I have decent talent, haven't slacked off all these years, kept practicing... Er Long is also in Embracing Embryo, but we practice the corps' standard combat skills, not as good as the authentic student of Unity of Heaven and Man approaches."

"There's such a distinction?"

"Yes, Opening the Tendons indeed has different levels. The higher it is, the more you can enhance body control ability. Embracing Taoist Embryo seems similar... He even said mine was a fake, but I don't understand it either."

"Unity of Heaven and Man..."

Cheng Ye pondered.

From the known information, Miao Yang is in Embracing Embryo, but doesn't have a Level 4 skill, indicating Unity of Heaven and Man corresponds to Level 4.

The strangers encountered so far with Level 4 skills... Master Tian is one, Chu Yunfeng is another, and now another Jiang Chuan has appeared, which isn't all that surprising.

After all, this New Martial system, it's really not like what's written in Wuxia novels, where achieving Unity of Heaven and Man allows for walking on walls, doing the impossible.

Just like this Jiang Chuan, isn't he honestly tied up?

In this line of work, you still need power and background.

But then again, Cheng Ye originally planned to wait until charging was complete, to search for a few more Level 1 talents to fuse, and see the specific effects of improvement.

Yet now encountering such a compatible target as Jiang Chuan, not attempting to raise the compatibility to 100% and searching for a Level 3 skill would be too regrettable.

He pondered slightly, a light shining in his eyes, "Long, you'll have to cooperate with me later on something."

"Just say the word, sir. Our community excels in cooperation, in this Buffer Zone, we claim second place, and no one dares claim first!"

Long patted his chest confidently.

Once Cheng Ye finished explaining the specifics, Long guaranteed once again, "This is simple! Give me two minutes to prepare, and I'll ensure everything runs smoothly without a hitch!"

"Good, go make the arrangements."

Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

Since realizing that an inspector identity provides a hidden bonus to searches, he's been thinking about how to exploit this role. Although it's his first attempt now, he's rehearsed the entire process in his mind countless times.

If it works, searching for people in the Buffer Zone could become much easier.

...

After Cheng Ye instructed Long to leave, Jiang Chuan wasn't puzzled, sitting quietly on the ground waiting.

He rehearsed in his mind the exchanges to come between them, thinking about how to phrase things to win Cheng Ye's trust.

Additionally, he mustn't reveal his identity; Cheng Ye absolutely mustn't know he was sent by Station Chief Ding to test him.

Yet after a minute or two, Cheng Ye still hadn't appeared.

As he began to find it odd.

The working crowd around suddenly grew restless, many shrieking and running into rooms, and especially the children scrambling away in panic.

What happened, Jiang Chuan's heart sank intensely!

Then, with a few clicks, the mall's lights dimmed layer by layer, leaving only a faint light in the activity area, the shadows around thickened instantly.

Over thirty strapping men emerged from the dark shadows, each radiating a murderous aura.

Much like dealing with Stand-In Starfish, eight of them in front wrapped themselves head to toe in plastic sheets, wearing masks and hoods covering their faces, exposing only pairs of vigilant eyes.

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